


In a Time of Magic

by firstbestdestinys



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Sorting (Harry Potter), Canonical Character Death, Fantasy, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-07 12:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1898382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstbestdestinys/pseuds/firstbestdestinys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin always knew that he and the magic that he was able to cast was different. He tried not to consider himself and his gifts evil, but it was hard when everyone around him keeps telling him so. Once he turned 11 and was able to go to Hogwarts to learn about magic, he discovered that he was far different still from anyone he met there, especially the prat of a prince Arthur Pendragon. How is he supposed to complete his destiny while he is in constant danger of being killed for the power he wields? Hogwarts AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in a world that is the mix between Camelot and the Wizarding World. None of the characters from Harry Potter are included in this story, I just took the setting and placed our favorite Merlin characters into it. Hopefully any questions that you have about the world will be answered in subsequent chapters, but if you have any pressing questions please leave a comment asking it. Enjoy!

As darkness started to settle over the land, Hunith was already regretting her decision to go out alone. The winding road that she had walked hundreds of times before seemed longer and more frightening when she carried a lantern in one arm and a baby in the other. She knew, however, that there wasn't anyone that she could trust to walk with her must less carry the secret that she was going to reveal. The rumors were already starting to spread about her and the questionable parentage of the child that she carried. She didn't need anything else to make them grow into something dangerous, if only for her child's sake. As it was the only person that she could trust with something this important and terrifying was Gaius, the very person that she had headed out to meet in the first place. She had trusted his request to meet far away from the town as possible, but she wished that there was a way that they could have met without putting herself or more importantly her baby at risk.

As this thought crossed her mind, she slowed down for a moment and looked down at the sleeping child in her arm. How he was asleep was beyond her; she had constantly needed to readjust herself while walking on the road, attempting to balance herself, the child, and the lantern all at the same time. She was grateful for his ability to sleep her jostling though, giving her one of those rare moments of peace of being able to see her son as peaceful and, well, normal as he could be. So long as his eyes were closed and he was unmoving she could imagine that just for a second he was a perfectly average child...

She quickly chastised herself for her uncharitable thoughts. Just because he was a difficult and unusual child with difficult and unusual gifts, he was still her son. Her beautiful, gentle, wonderful son with an adorable laugh and bright blue eyes. She loved her little baby boy unconditionally, and even in the worst moments she knew that it wasn't his fault that he had the gifts that he had. He was born special and she was grateful for him, difficulties and all. "My special Merlin," she whispered to the child softly, not wishing to wake him. For a moment he stirred slightly in her arm and she was worried that she had managed to disturb him from his slumber. However, after a moment he settled back in her arms, albeit a little less comfortably for her, and smiled his adorable baby smile to which she had no choice but to smile back at.

It was the whistle of the wind as it shook the trees around her that brought her attention back to the world around her. The sky had gotten even darker than she had realized, making her lantern a necessity rather than a luxury. In a few minutes it would be fully night, giving all of the dark things in the world full cover to come out. She looked around her to make sure that no one suspicious was nearby before picking up her pace. She could see the intersection that Gaius had instructed her to wait at ahead with made her let out a sigh of relief. She couldn't see any sign of Gaius or his incoming arrival, but she knew the man long and well enough that he come soon enough.

As the wind picked up some more and shook the trees even more violently, she began to wonder if it was a good idea meeting outside like this. There had been no signs that a storm was coming, but these days after nightfall there was more often a storm than not. It was a sign of dark things to come, the townfolk whispered, and Hunith couldn't help but agree with them. Something evil was starting to stir and all she knew was that she had to protect her son from it.

Once she arrived at the intersection with the old worn sign, she placed down the lantern in her left hand and used it to get Merlin into a more comfortable position. Again, he shifted in his sleep but did not awaken. The wind continued to shake the trees around her and although the sky was completely dark she could tell that storm clouds were starting to roll in. She looked around for Gaius or anything that might signify his arrival, but the area around her was as barren as when she had been walking. Merlin shifted in her arms again and when she looked down at him she saw that his blue eyes were wide open and he was smiling up at her.

"Well hello Merlin," she said softly with a smile. "Did you have a good nap?" At the sound of his mother's voice his smile grew even wider and he let out that endearing laugh of his. How could anyone think that he was a monster, she thought. He was such an innocent child and she knew that no darkness could ever take a place in his heart. He started to laugh more and clap his hands, which he only did when someone that he liked was around or he had performed a particularly impressive (and messy) piece of magic. "What's so funny?" she asked him, not expecting him to be able to answer. However, to her surprise he lifted a tiny arm and pointed down the road. Looking up, Hunith saw an older man standing about twenty feet away from her. "Gaius?"

"Yes, Hunith, its me," Gaius said, his voice far wearier than she remembered hearing it. It was unmistakably the voice of Gaius, though, and she was relieved to hear it.

"Thank goodness its you, Gaius," She said, taking a few steps towards him with Merlin in her arms. "I was worried that the storm would have scared you off." She was more worried that he had decided not to help her after all. He had mentioned in the letter that he sent her (which had arrived from an owl, oddly enough) that helping her might be difficult or even dangerous for him in a way that he couldn't explain in a letter. Hunith didn't understand what would be dangerous about it and she was thankful that he was willing to help her despite the risks.

"I wouldn't let a mere storm keep me from helping an old friend," he replied, closing the distance between them. He put hand on her shoulder and hugged her as well as he could when there was a child in one of her arms. "Besides, I know a few tricks that should keep us dry." With that the wind picked up even more, enough to make the light in the lantern start to flicker and make Gaius and Hunith unstable. Instead of looking frightened, however, Merlin just smiled and giggled at Gaius, reaching out to him with his baby arms. "And this must be Merlin, then," He said almost warily, taking a step back to take a proper look at the child.

"Yes, yes it is," she replied, smiling down at her bundle of joy. He didn't seem at all afraid of Gaius, or of the situation at all. He was always her fearless child. Looking back up at Gaius, she let her smile drop and the worry enter her eyes. "Please tell me that you can help us."

Gaius didn't answer her for a second, still studying Merlin. He seemed troubled by something but he let no indication of what it was. "I'm not sure. Raising a magical child without magic of your own is difficult in its own right, but if what you say is true, then..." He trailed off, either not knowing how to finish that sentence or not wishing to. "Would you be able to have him show me the things you spoke of in your letter?"

"Oh, of course!" She said. She reached into the pocket of her dress to retrieve a perfect blue feather. "He loves to play with this," she explained to Gaius. "I don't know where it came from, but the day that he was born he—well, I'll let him show you." At that, she raised the feather over Merlin's face and let it fall from her fingers.

Before it had even completely fallen out of her fingers, golden dust surrounded the feather, preventing it from falling. He laughed as he made it slowly drift downwards towards his face but never letting it completely touch his head. The feather then flew up towards Hunith's face, then Gaius's, and finally settling down in a steady orbit around their heads. With each pass it took it changed to a different color. "He did the exact same thing minutes after he was born, only he managed to make more feathers appear somehow. They all were dancing around our heads, just like this, and that's how we—that's how I knew that he was special. And I knew what to name him. Merlin, after the bird that all of the feathers came from. I thought it was only fitting."

To Hunith's relief, Gaius seemed more amused than worried. "That's something very common for children with the gift for magic do as infants. They find something that they like and make it float around for awhile. Granted, its usually not quite as early and to quite the same scale as Merlin is capable of doing, but its quite normal." As they talked, the feather slowed down until it went completely still in the middle of Hunith and Gaius, having changed back to its original silvery blue color. "However, you said that there were other things that he could do?"

"Yes," she replied, still sounding nervous. This was the part that seemed to worry Gaius, and if she was being honest with herself she was worried about it too. "He communicates with me sometimes. I mean, he's far too young to talk, but sometimes he can put...pictures into my head, and based on what they are I can tell what he's trying to say."

Gaius nodded thoughtfully, his eyes settling on Merlin again. "Can you get him to do that to me too?"

"Of course, he is usually very open about it," she replied, snatching the feather from out of the air and putting it back into her pocket. "Merlin, sweetheart, would you be able to show Gaius the pretty pictures that you like to show me?" She asked looking down at him, using the voice that a mother uses on her child. He looked back up at her quizzically and then to Gaius.

Gaius took a step towards him and bent down slightly so that he was more at the child's level. "Come on Merlin, show Gaius some of your favorite things," Hunith said a little more forcibly this time.

Seeming to understand that his mother wanted him to do, Merlin smiled again and looked into Gaius's eyes. Gaius had just a moment to register the fact that Merlin's eyes flashed a bright gold before his mind was bombarded with pictures. Of a woman who could be no one else other than Hunith, with a beautiful gold aura surrounding her, the feeling of love and pure happiness; of a too-small cabin, slightly cluttered with the mess that he made, the feeling of warmth and safety; of a man with long dark hair, kind of blurry, the feeling of love and confusion to why he isn't there; of the sunrise and sunset and stars in the sky, the feeling of wonder; of a flock of birds flying high in the sky, the feeling of freedom. Then, as soon as the pictures started, they stopped again, leaving Gaius to look at Merlin's smiling face and normal, blue eyes.

For a few moments Gaius didn't say anything. Even though he knew what to expect, he had hoped beyond hope that there had been a mistake and that Merlin wasn't cursed with this after all. But after that show there was no mistaking it; Merlin had both physical and mental magic, for better or for worse. "This is troubling," he mused out loud before looking back up to Hunith's worried face. At that moment, as if in response to his words, the wind blew again and rain started to fall from the sky. Everyone seemed surprised at this, forgetting that the world existed beyond their conversation.

Quickly, Gaius drew his wand from his pocket. "May I?" he asked her, motioning to the rain above. She nodded in response to him, drawing Merlin closer to her to protect him from the rain. He made a quick motion with his wand and spoke the word " _Impervius._ " Hunith didn't feel any different after the spell was cast, but as she looked down at herself and Merlin she realized that the water wasn't hitting her clothes or her skin anymore, but rather being reflected with a faint blue aura. Her eyes widened as they always did when she saw him, or anyone else, do magic. It still amazed her how humans could be capable of such amazing things. Just like her son.

"You know what is going on with him, right?" Hunith asked Gaius, unable to forget for long the reason of their meeting. "You can help him?"

"I know what this is, yes," He replied slowly, seeming to choose his words carefully. "There are two types of magic in this world, physical and mental, and Merlin is blessed with both. Mental magic has long since been mistrusted along with its practitioners, and recently it has been hated and feared by most of the magic community. Thus not many people understand it very well...not even the people that have access to it.

"Merlin is even more special with his ability to use both. Most people can only use one type, if any at all. The fact that he can use both will cause many to persecute him if anyone were to ever find out." He finished, never taking his eyes away from Hunith. She deserved to know the truth, even if it would hurt.

With each word her eyes grew larger with worry. "You mean...he is in danger?"

"I'm afraid so. You'll find that people no matter where they are dangerous towards those who are different." He replied sadly, finally breaking eye contact.

"You have to help me then," she pleaded, grabbing Gaius's hand with her free hand. "I can't do this by myself, I don't have any idea how to help me. Please, for his sake, help us. Help him."

Gaius was forced to look her in the eye again and see her pain and anxiety. He knew that it was going to be hard to refuse to get involved with their plight, but he didn't think that it would be as hard as it was. He knew it would be better for both of them if they didn't have magical interference to draw attention to them. "I'm sorry..." he began apologetically before looking down at Merlin again.

Merlin had settled down from his earlier fit of laughter, seeming to realize the solemnity of the situation. He reached out with his little hands, mesmerized by the blue aura that surrounded his skin. He tried to grab the raindrops, and looked confused and slightly frustrated when he couldn't. Gaius looked at the boy and saw an innocent, pure child with a power that could rip him apart from the inside out. He knew that without any way of controlling his power at best Merlin would grow insane and at worst perish before ever having a realized life. He couldn't let either of that happen.

He put his other hand on top of Hunith's and continued speaking. "...I'm sorry that I don't know much about this form of magic or how to help him. However, I will do everything in my power to help you and the boy."

"Thank you! Thank you so much," She exclaimed, smiling widely, relief evident in her eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I knew that I could count on you."

"Yes, well, I haven't helped you yet," Gaius said, slightly embarrassed at her sudden show of emotion. "I'm not even sure if I c _an_ help you. Like I said, I don't know much about mental magic much less someone with both. But I will help you if I can."

She looked back at him fondly, replying "That's all that I can ask you to do."

Now that the decision was made, Gaius grabbed the lantern and walked with Hunith back to her cabin on the outskirts of town.  
  
  
~   *   ~  
  


Far away and away from the rain that was plaguing the lower villages, another baby boy was in the arms of a woman. However, unlike Hunith and Merlin, this child looking nothing like the nurse that was holding him. He had a thin layer of golden hair and brilliant blue eyes, whereas the woman had brown hair and even darker eyes. The child seemed to be able to tell that this woman was not his mother by the way that he was crying incessantly for the past few hours. The nurse continued to rock him in her arms in an attempt to lull the child to sleep. She knew that Uther was going to check in on the child soon and the last thing that he would want to deal with was an inconsolable child and the nurse who was unable to calm him down.

As if sensing the nurse's wishes, the baby quieted down his wails so that they sounded more like whimpers. Relieved that something had soothed him, the nurse put him down in a beautifully ornate cradle fit for a prince. The wood had the finest quality craftsmanship with the name "Arthur" engraved in pure gold on its side. Above the cradle hung a mobile with lions and all sorts strong creatures the child reached up to grab. Seeing that Arthur had settled down enough from his long fit of crying, the nurse went about to tidy up the room for the arrival of Uther.

Seeing that reaching up to grab the toy lion from the mobile wasn't going to work, Arthur had to find another way to keep himself entertained. Getting an idea, Arthur concentrated on making the mobile spin, imagining how much fun that he would have once it started spinning. Very slowly, the mobile started to spin around his head, as if a wind were blowing it. That was as much as he was capable of doing as an infant and it was more than enough for Arthur to be entertained. He smiled and laughed at the golden mobile above his head, his arms still reaching up in an attempt to grasp it.

As soon as he was started to have fun trying to make it go faster, the door slammed open and a man came in with a frown on his face that Arthur knew to be his father. "Your majesty," the nurse said from across the room, going into a deep curtsy. "I fed and changed Prince Arthur, just as you requested, and finally was able to get him to stop crying. I had put him in his crib to—"

"Yes, thank you for doing your job," Uther said gruffly, cutting her off by walking over to the crib. "Any sign of sickness or weakness?"

"No, sire," she responded quickly. "No sign of anything related to the...difficult birth. He seems as healthy as any child his age, if healthier."

Uther's frown softened a little at this news, relieved to hear that his son at least would be okay but unwilling to show it. Taking her cue, she continued to tidy up the room around her. Instead of asking any more questions, he looked at the child and the spinning mobile, studying his one and only heir. With a sharp motion and grabbed the mobile that was spinning on its own accord, stopping it. Arthur's smiling stopped and he turned slightly to look at his father. Arthur could tell that he wasn't happy about something and hoped it wasn't because he was moving the mobile.

"There will be no more of that," Uther said, his voice stern and strong. Arthur's smile instantly disappeared and he stared up at his father as solemnly as a child could muster. "Magic is not a toy, and it is just as well that you learn that now. You will have no more time for magic tricks. You are going to become a warrior." Uther shifted himself so that he was looking directly down at Arthur, trying to ignore the fact that the eyes of his son were so similar to the eyes of his diseased wife.

"I need you to be strong, Arthur," he began, trying the words in his mouth. He knew Ygraine would have wanted their son to have been raised both in compassion and strength, but he didn't believe in teaching his son compassion in a world that obviously didn't have any. "When you're older I'm going to need you to help me find those responsible for—for your mother's death."

Uther could feel his throat start to tighten at the mention of his love but he couldn't let his weakness show. So instead of sadness he replaced the emotion with a far more useful one—anger. "Together you and I will rid the world of their kind! We have been far too lenient with those  _sorcerers_. I should have never let them—" He cut off again, his anger not enough to contain his other, weaker emotions that threatened to creep up. Not knowing what else to do, he slammed his fist on the side of the crib. " _They. Will. Pay!"_ He yelled at the child, his face contorting into something truly awful.

At the sudden noise and shaking of the crib, Arthur's face contorted as well and he began to cry a piteous wail. Realizing what he had done, Uther stepped away from the cradle and sunk to the floor, looking at the hand that struck the cradle. The nurse took this opportunity to grab the prince from the cradle and rush away from the room, fearful of Uther and what he might do to the child if he had remained.

The only thing that you could hear above the loud wails of the child was Uther himself, crying out the name of his wife over and over again until his voice grew hoarse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for receiving the first chapter so well! I'm glad that people seem to enjoy the idea thus far. This chapter actually ended up being quite longer than the things I usually write, so I felt that I would post Arthur's part to the chapter as a separate chapter altogether. Things will certainly get easier once they are united in Hogwarts (as I am sure everyone is looking forward to). As always I am happy to receive questions and comments, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: There was a small error mentioning that Merlin knew that he would getting a letter to Hogwarts at the beginning of the chapter that escaped my editing before posting. Sorry!

Merlin woke up to feeling of magic coursing through his veins. Instinctively, he fought to calm it down—he had learned from experience that rampant magic meant magic outbursts, which meant bad things would happen, which meant that his mother would have that sad look in her eye. The last thing that he wanted to do was cause his mother to be sad, so he always tried so very hard to keep his magic under control.

Usually, keeping his magic under control was much easier said than done. Gaius told him that there were many people born with magic, but Merlin couldn’t help but think that if many people had the same level of magic in their blood that there would be a lot more magical accidents than there was. Of course, there weren’t many people with the same level of magic as him. In fact, as far as Merlin could tell in his little corner of the world, he had the worst case of uncontrollable magic imaginable.

It felt like sparks on top of and underneath his skin; exhilarating, yet terrifying. Sometimes the magic seemed like it was bouncing in his veins, yet other times it seemed to lie still, choosing to slither instead of bounce. Fire, ice, electricity, he had experienced practically every form of magic that anyone had experienced. No matter how the magic chose to manifest himself, Merlin knew that any lapse in concentration would mean a piece of his magic would slip out and possibly hurt someone that he loved.

That was why when felt the magic particularly out of control he fought so desperately to keep it to himself. Luckily for him, over the years, through Gaius’s guidance and his own self-teaching, his magic had tamed significantly. Even though he could always feel the constant presence of his ‘gift’, as his mother liked to put it, now it only got really bad when he was especially excited, especially scared, or sensed something out of place.

Which raised the question, why was his magic acting up this morning?

A quick scan around his room revealed that there was no immediate threat that his magic could be reacting to. Tentatively, he reached out with his magic to be sure that there was no danger about. He had learned when he was around 6 that his magic could sense when he or someone he knew was in danger. A group of thieves were breaking into the house down the street that belonged to his best and only friend, Will. Merlin had woken up screaming, and when Hunith had rushed in to comfort him, the only thing that she could get him to say was that someone was trying to hurt Will and he had to save him. Luckily, moments later the police came and caught the thieves before any damage could have been done. From then on, neither he or his mother doubted his intuitions again.

But even after the most thorough search that he could do without the risk of setting his magic loose, he still didn’t find anything particularly out of place or frightening. So that left either something exciting or...

As the thought hit his sleepy mind, he could not help but laugh at his own silliness. How could he forget? His birthday! His magic jolted down his body from his head to his toe, bubbling in agreement. Unable to contain his excitement, he threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. He raced out of the room, ignoring the fact that the door opened for him and closed behind him, and ran down the stars.

“Momma!” He called out enthusiastically, knowing that on today of all days she would be awake and, most importantly, home.

He was proven right when he heard the bright voice of his mother say “In the kitchen, sweetheart!” Following her voice, he turned into their small yet cheery kitchen to see his mother cooking at the stove. “Happy Birthday Merlin! Now, before you go snooping around trying to find your presents, sit down. Breakfast is almost ready.”

Merlin sat down obediently even though there was nothing more tempting than running around the house trying to find his gift. That was often half the fun was trying to find it before opening it. But, as his stomach would tell him, breakfast was far more important. “Is that eggs?” he asked, sniffing the air and trying to shift his position to see what she was cooking. Another aroma filled his senses, one even more delicious. “And...sausage?” His stomach growled at the thought of having such delicious foods.

Hunith, turning off the stove and putting some of the eggs and sausage on a plate for Merlin, smiled at him. “It’s your favorite, isn’t it?” she put down the plate in front of him where a knife and a fork were already set. Merlin looked at it with his big blue eyes, every muscle in his body was tensed and ready to eat it. “Go on, then. I’ll get my plate in a second. Dig in!”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He picked up his knife and fork and began shoveling the food into his mouth unceremoniously. “Smaller bites, Merlin, you don’t have to breathe it in like that.” Even though her voice sounded slightly stern, there was a smile on her lips and in her eyes. She wished that she could make this breakfast for her son every morning to make him happy. But with money as tight as it was, it was hard to be able to afford anything more extravagant than cereal or porridge to eat for breakfast. She went over and took the remaining eggs and sausage, put it on her plate, and took her place across from her son. If there was significantly less food on her plate than she put on Merlin’s plate, he was far too engrossed in his food to notice.

“Is there any more sausage?” Merlin asked as he chewed his food, forgetting his manners in his haste to eat as much of his food as possible.

“Here you go,” Hunith said, taking two of the three sausages from her plate and putting it onto his.

“But isn’t that yours?”

“Don’t worry about it, Merlin. You need it more than me, you’re a growing boy after all.” she replied with a mother’s smile and a ruffle to his hair before starting to eat her food herself.

He looked at the sausage on his plate, having every intention of giving it back to his mother like he knew he should. But his stomach was far stronger than his mind and as soon as he swallowed his previous bite he bit into one of the two extra sausages on his plate.

It wasn’t long before Hunith was done with the food on her plate, even though she had taken great care to eat it slowly enough to savor every bite. Glancing over and seeing that his mother had finished, Merlin cut his second sausage in half. “Here, Momma, we’ll share the last one.” He said, pushing the bigger half onto his mother’s plate.

She considered refusing the food, knowing that it was Merlin’s favorite and it would be un-motherly to take it on his birthday. But upon seeing the innocent and worried look in her son’s eye, she knew that it would be even more un-motherly to refuse. “Thank you, Merlin,” she said instead, cutting into her sausage and taking a bite. She closed her eyes as the flavor burst in her mouth and wished for her sake as well as Merlin’s that they could eat like this every day.

Once Merlin had finished his plate he bounced up and down in his seat. The food had done much to calm down his racing magic, but the excitement of knowing that there was still more to come to the day was enough to keep it active and ready for an outlet. Seeing this, Hunith said “Why don’t you go and try to find your gift while I clean up?” She smiled at him wickedly. “Though, I’m pretty sure that you won’t be able to find it this year.”

That was enough to get Merlin out of his seat. He had never failed to find his birthday present in previous years and he was sure that this year wouldn’t be the first. “Yeah right!” Merlin exclaimed, already halfway out the kitchen. “I’ll probably find it in 5 seconds!”

Chuckling to herself, Hunith finished the last bite of eggs on her plate and started to clean up the plates and the pans. While she was glad that Merlin was excited for his birthday, as all little boys should be, she was also surprised that there hadn’t been any “accidents” yet. With magic as strong as Merlin’s, when he felt any particularly strong emotion his magic was almost certain to react accordingly. It just showed how much he had grown and learned over the years. Self control wasn’t something that a boy his age should have, but for someone like Merlin it was a skill that he would need.

In the living room, Merlin was looking all around. He picked up pillows and books and even the rug in order to find his gift. His magic ached to help him in his task, but Merlin knew that it was against the rules to use magic in order to find it. If she didn’t use magic to make it or hide it, his mother would say, then he shouldn’t have to use magic in order to find it. Besides, he was old enough to realize that it was one of the many things his mother did to help him be in better control of his magic, something that Merlin so desperately wanted.

Satisfied that there was nothing in the main room, Merlin climbed the stairs two at a time to look upstairs. He first checked his own room, even though he knew that there was no way that she would have been able to hide anything in there without him realizing. A quick check under his bed and in his closet confirmed this, and he set off into his mother’s room instead. He spent much longer looking in there than his own room, remembering that one time a couple of years ago when she had hid his gift underneath her bed. But when that search came up empty, he started looking in the closet and even the bathroom hoping to find something out of place.

Finally, a half an hour later, he wearily went back down the stairs and into the kitchen, where his mother was working on mixing something. Even though she didn’t turn around, somehow she knew that he was there waiting at the door. “Having trouble already, Merlin?” She asked, humor evident in her voice.

“I looked _everywhere_ for it, Mom,” Merlin complained, trying and failing to hide it. “ _Everywhere_. This is impossible!”

“Would you like me to give you a hint?”

After a moment of consideration, Merlin put aside his pride and responded “Yes please.”

She stopped mixing whatever was in the bowl and started pouring it into a baking pan. “Have you tried looking outside?”

“What?” His mouth dropped open at the thought that it might be outside. “But—but—but that’s _cheating_.”

“Not cheating, Merlin, merely...making things more of a challenged,” she explained. “As you’ve been getting older, you’ve been getting better and better at finding the gift. You don’t want it to be too easy, do you?”

Now that she put it that way, Merlin was slightly less offended at the notion. He was excellent at finding the gifts, even without magic. It was only natural that she would need to find more difficult ways of hiding it. “I guess not,” he admitted. “But it’s still cheating.”

Hunith chuckled. “You better hurry up if you want to find it before your Uncle Gaius gets here.” As if on cue, as soon as the words left her mouth they could hear a sharp knocking on the door. “Speaking of, why don’t you get the door Merlin, I think he’s here now.”

Merlin ran towards the door and flung it open, excited at the thought of seeing Gaius. He remembered Gaius, his uncle by name more than blood, from his earliest childhood, always being there to guide him when he needed it most. His mother was a great support and he wouldn’t change her for the world, but when it came to magic she was as good as clueless. It was because of his mentor’s guidance that his magic was, relatively speaking, under control. Gaius used to visit the house extensively over the summer, working with Merlin to refine his magic and his discipline. As Merlin got older and needed Gaius less, he started visiting less and less often until for the past couple of years he only visited during Merlin’s birthday and Christmastime.

As such, visits from Gaius were always a precious thing. Before Gaius could even register that the door was open, much less able to get a word out in greeting, Merlin had his arms wrapped around his uncle’s middle. “Hi Uncle Gaius!” he exclaimed, as cheerful as ever.

“Happy birthday my boy,” Gaius replied with a smile and pat to the back. “My, you have grown since I’ve last seen you. You are growing into quite the young man.”

Merlin giggled at that and let go of Gaius. “You say that every time you see me!”

“And I’ll keep saying it as long as its true. Now, where’s your mother? I’d like to say hello to her too.”

“She’s in the kitchen making something, you can go right in” Merlin replied casually until a second later his face lit up. “I’ll be inside in a second, I have to go find my gift!” Before Gaius could have stopped him if he had wanted to, Merlin raced past Gaius, almost tripping over himself down the stairs. Chuckling to himself, Gaius stepped into the house and shut the door after him.

After he recovered from his almost-fall, Merlin turned his attention to the area around him. Their lot wasn’t very big, but there were plenty of bushes that it would be easy to hid a gift in, especially if it was a small one. He started his scan of the bushes around the house, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. It wasn’t until he was halfway around the house when he saw it, a carefully wrapped parcel suspended between two bushes at a perfect height for Merlin to grab. He needn’t have looked so carefully, since the bright blue wrapping paper provided a nice contrast from the dark green of the bushes. Taking great care as to not rip the wrapping paper, Merlin reached up and grabbed the gift. It was soft and squishy, nothing like the boxes that he was used to getting in the past. He briefly wondered what it could be. He restrained himself from opening it, though, knowing that it would be against the rules to open it early.

Smiling widely at his success, he ran back into the house where the only two members of his family that he really knew were waiting.

“Look Mom, I found it!” he yelled loudly as he raced into the kitchen, where his mother and Gaius were sitting at the table talking quietly. If Merlin wasn’t so focused on his gift, he might have noticed the look of concern and sadness on Hunith’s face. But as soon as Merlin entered the room, both of the adults schooled their features into a much happier demeanor.

“Good job, Merlin!” His mother said, her voice almost sounding forced with excitement. “Now hurry up and change so we can get an early start to the clearing.”

His smile grew even louder at the thought of going to the clearing. He quickly ran up to get dressed in comfortable clothes, ready for a day outside. When he came back down stairs he found the two adults still at the table, making quiet conversation under their breath. Merlin wondered briefly what it was about, and once he realized that it probably had something to do with his birthday he crept to the doorway, trying to listen to what was being said. He could only pick up snippets of the conversation and none of it really made much sense to Merlin.

“...are you sure it’s safe, I don’t...so far away from home...”

“...the safest place for him, I’m afraid...”

“...what if someone finds out what he...”

“...it’s the best place for him to master...”

The conversation cut short when Hunith looked over to see Merlin not so subtly eavesdropping at the door. “Merlin!” She exclaimed and Merlin was worried that he would be scolded for listening in. Instead, she merely smiled at him and said “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah yeah yeah!” Merlin cheered, practically jumping up and down in his excitement, all thoughts of the adult conversation forgotten.

At that, Hunith grabbed a picnic basket and the three of them headed out the door. It was a remarkably beautiful day, with the sun warm in the sky and the clouds floating peacefully overhead. The blue of the sky was the kind that you only dreamed of or saw in airbrushed magazines and at times you could quite literally hear birds chirping their contentment. Merlin quickly took the lead, knowing the way to his favorite clearing in the woods by heart.

It had started with Merlin needing a place to practice his magic safely without the people of the village seeing. Most of the magic that he did was the normal, physical kind, called wizardry, like creating things out of thin air or changing the color of plants. It was things that people who were around magic were used to seeing, albeit usually from a gifted witch or wizard with a wand in their use. However, it was Merlin’s practice of a darker magic, mental magic or as many called it sorcery that needed to be hidden. This involved things like creating illusions or talking to animals, and while it was harder to spot outright than physical magic, the implications if Merlin was caught practicing would be deadly to all those involved.

No one knew the exact reason why mental magic was so feared throughout the kingdom. It was generally known, however, that so called sorcery was resulted in the death of the late queen, Ygraine. While many did not know the reason for the ban of all magic that fell under the category of mental, all knew of the fury and hatred that the king had for all of those who practiced it. The burnings had started well before Merlin was born and although they were not quite as frequent as they were during the Purge, many travelers to Ealdor came with tales of burnings in the nearby villages.

“Why does the king hate sorcery so much?” Merlin asked Gaius one day.

“Because someone used it to hurt someone that he loved.” Gaius said softly. _They were trying to help her_ , Gaius wanted to add, but the part of him that was close to Uther prevented him from saying it.

Merlin nodded, knowing that he would hate something that hurt his mother, Gaius, or Will. “But how could something like mental magic hurt anyone? It’s harmless!”

Gaius considered him carefully, deciding how much he should let Merlin know of the evil in the world. “You wouldn’t use it to hurt anyone, Merlin, but there are people out there who would take every opportunity to do harm, magic or not. And as you get older and grow into your powers, you will realize that even mental magic can do harmful things, even when you intend it for good.”

Regardless of sorcery’s capability of hurting people, it was banned throughout the land and anyone caught using it was sentenced to death with barely a trial. Thus it became crucial to have a safe place out of the way for Merlin to practice. And that’s where the clearing came in. Merlin wasn’t sure if he or his mother or even Gaius found it, but as soon as it was discovered it became the only place where Merlin was allowed to do magic more powerful than making his bed or picking up items.

Not only was it safe and secluded, but it was also a beautiful place to be in itself. It was small, as clearings go, but there was plenty of space for Merlin to run around to his heart’s content. To Merlin, the grass always looked greener and the air tasted crisper than the rest of the forest. Whether it was his child’s imagination or his own magic that sustained the image, he could not imagine a more beautiful place to be.

As Merlin broke through the thick of the trees and gazed at his precious clearing, he could feel his magic hum within him. He looked up at his mother, eyes wide with anticipation, and looked for her approval. She smiled and nodded, and that was all the permission he needed.

That entire morning and most of the afternoon passed by in a blur. He vaguely remembered showing Gaius a few new things that he learned (and receiving a raised eyebrow at a few of the less-than-mature ones, but never a scolding) and Gaius in turn leading him through a few calming exercises. But mostly what he remembered was running and leaping around the clearing, making scattered leaves into mini tornados or changing the colors of the flowers around him, and basically just letting his magic loose in a way that he simply couldn’t at home.

He briefly considered opening his mind to his mother and Gaius, starting a telepathic communication between them that was far more expressive than words could be. After all, no one would see, that’s why they had hiked all the way to the clearing. But when he recalled the last time he tried to use sorcery, with the look of horror on his mother’s face and the disapproval on Gaius’, he found that the fear was far greater than the temptation. So when he was done running and jumping around, he decided instead to lie down on the soft grass and let his magic seep into the earth, briefly wishing that it could disappear into the dirt forever.

However, when his mother called him over for lunch and he got up, he could still feel the faint hum of his magic underneath his fingertips. It was hard to be unhappy, though, when you’re surrounded by blue skies and your loved ones, and Merlin wasn’t a naturally unhappy person. So long as he had his home and his mother, he knew he would be happy.

“Merlin, slow down, you’re going to choke at the rate you’re going at,” Hunith chided lightly, munching on a small sandwich of her own.

“But it’s so good,” Merlin replied, his mouth full of food. He hadn’t realized that he had been so hungry when he had been playing around but he was sure glad of the food now. He swallowed his food this time before saying “Besides, the faster I eat the faster I can open my presents!”

Hunith paled slightly at the word, but Merlin was far too interested in his food to notice. “Well, they’ll still be there after you’re done your food, so no need to rush.” She fought against the tightness in her voice and made the smile on her face grow to mask her emotion.

Her words were lost on Merlin, who had finished the rest of his sandwich in a quick series of bites. “Is it present time now?” He asked his mother eagerly, making his eyes as big and bright as he could knowing that she could never resist it when he did that.

It got the result that he wanted; her smile softened and she reached over to pull her parcel closer to him. “Sure, sweetheart. You’re the birthday boy.”

Merlin grabbed the gift and put it on his lap, admiring it for what he guessed to be an appropriate amount of time. When his impatience got the better of him, he ripped open the wrapping paper as he always did, too excited to try and save the paper.

Underneath the blue wrapping paper was a dark folded quilt. Intrigued, Merlin unfolded it to see the design. The main part of the quilt was a beautiful collection of dark blue, purples, and blacks, all pieced together seamlessly. Together with the silver and white stars scattered on the quilt, it could only have been the night sky that his mother had quilted for him. The boarder was the same silvery color that the stars were and was embroidered with elegant swirling designs. On the bottom left-hand corner was the name _Merlin Emrys_ stitched in dark blue thread.

He looked over the whole quilt quietly, his mouth open slightly in shock. He had seen plenty of his mother’s work in the past, both things for himself or for friends that she knew. But this was something completely different and extraordinary. It almost seemed as if she had picked part of the night sky and threaded it together in a blanket for him to use. He wondered briefly if his mother had access to magic after all.

“I hope you like it,” Hunith said after Merlin hadn’t said anything for a few moments. “I wasn’t sure what colors you’d like on it, but I didn’t want to ask for your opinion on it since it would ruin the surprise, so I decided to wing it and—“

“Mom, it’s beautiful,” Merlin said cutting his mother off, not wanting her to feel like he didn’t like the gift. “I love it, it—it’s perfect. Thank you so much.”

Gaius spoke up as well, admiring the quilt with an eye that had obviously seen some fine work in the past. “You really outdid yourself, Hunith. It is quite lovely.”

His mother smiled at him, glad to get the reaction that she did. “Thank you, Gaius. I really hoped it would come out well. Happy birthday Merlin.” Merlin folded the quilt back up as best as he could and got up to give his mother a big hug. She hugged him back surprisingly tight, almost squeezing the air from his lungs. Despite its tightness, it felt nice to Merlin.

Once Merlin had sat back down in the seat that he was in, Gaius reached into his jacket and pulled out a letter. “This is for you too. I know it doesn’t look like much, but I’ll explain it to you once you open it.” Gaius exchanged a glance with Hunith, almost as if he was asking for permission. Whatever he saw in her gaze was enough for him, because a moment later he handed the letter to Merlin. It had a strange weight in his hand, as if there was something morn in it than simply paper. Even the address was peculiar, reading in a carefully printed script “ _Mr. M. Emrys, The First Room on the Top of the Stairs, 3 Stone Drive, Ealdor_ ”. He couldn’t remember when he had ever had a letter sent directly to him, much less with such accuracy on the address.

Having made his decision, he carefully opened the envelope, ripping it slightly by accident. Inside the envelope were two pieces of the strangest feeling stationary that he had ever felt. It felt crisp and new, like someone very rich and important had taken the time to write him a letter. When he looked at the first page of the letter, he could barely believe what it said. As if to make it more real to him, he read the words out loud carefully, just loud enough for his mother and Gaius to hear.

 _“Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”_ He looked up at Gaius, looking to see if this was some joke or mistake. He had heard of the school, of course, but had always thought that it was for people who, well, weren’t freaks. Upon seeing the serious, almost solemn look on his uncle’s face, he looked back down and continued reading.

“ _Dear Mr. Emrys, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1 st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st. Yours sincerely, Geoffrey Monmouth, Deputy Headmaster.” _More confused than before, he looked at the next page to see if it offered any explanation. Instead, it merely had, as promised, a list of books and equipment that was completely unfamiliar with him.

He looked back up at Gaius’ face and his mother’s face in turn, looking for answers that he couldn’t find in the letter. “I don’t understand,” he finally said when neither of them offered information.

Hunith opened her mouth as if to say something but found that she couldn’t say whatever she had to offer. Instead, Gaius spoke, choosing his words carefully. “Hogwarts, as you probably know, is an extremely prestigious school in Camelot where the brightest witches and wizards go for their education in magic. They take all of the magical kids in Camelot and neighboring kingdoms and pick the most promising of them to attend their school at age eleven. And they picked you, my boy, to attend.”

Merlin stared at him for a moment, letting the words that he spoke sink in. His mind raced around piecing things together, and there were so many questions that he wanted to ask. There was a particular question that stood out in his mind, one that had haunted him for many years in different forms. “Why me? I don’t deserve it—I have sorcery, Gaius. They don’t want me. I’m a monster.”

At this, Hunith reacted as a mother must. She pulled her son into the deepest of hugs, far more hurt by what he said then by the possibility of him going to a far away school. “Of course they want you, Merlin. You’re not a monster, you are kind and lovable and wonderful and they would be lucky to have you.”

“You do have a point, Merlin,” Gaius said. “You are able to cast mental magic, the practice of which is strictly against the laws of Camelot. If you are caught using it there, you will most certainly be put to death.”

Both Merlin and his mother paled at the thought of being put to death. Ever since he was little he had nightmares of being put on the pyre to burn for the curse that he held inside of him. And no matter how many times his mother had tried to comfort him, saying that she will always be there to protect him, he always knew that she wouldn’t be able to do that forever. He just didn’t think it would be so soon.

“However,” Gaius continued calmly, trying to ease both parent and child. “Despite the risks that it brings, it is also the best place to learn to cast—and control—magic. Physical magic, yes, but you are also very talented in that regard as well. It would be very rewarding.”

By this point, Hunith still hadn’t let Merlin go and was petting his hair softly. “Will I have to leave home?” Merlin asked in a small, vulnerable voice. He snuggled himself closer to his mother, glad for the comfort.

“Yes,” Gaius answered honestly. “It is a boarding school in Camelot, which means that you would have to leave Ealdor to go to school there. It’s a far ways from home and you probably will only be able to come home for Christmas, if that.”

The thought of leaving home for that amount of time baffled him. He couldn’t think of a time that he had left the small town of Ealdor, much less been away from home for any long extended period of time. It would mean leaving his mother, the clearing, Will, and everything that he knew in order to go to this school. “I’m not sure I could do that,” he said honestly.

“And you don’t have to, Merlin,” his mother said quickly, relieved at her son not completely wanting to go. “You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to.”

“It’s completely your choice,” Gaius agreed somberly. “However, an opportunity like this won’t present itself again.” Gaius shifted himself so he sat a little lower, looking into Merlin’s eyes. “I won’t lie to you. Going there will be difficult enough, between being away from home and the difficulty of the studies. You will also have an even harder time keeping your gift hidden there.

“However, this is also a great opportunity for you. You won’t believe the things that you’ll learn there—things that you can do with magic that you never even though possible. You’ll also have friends with similar abilities to you, albeit less powerful. They will be able to teach you things that you won’t be able to learn here in Ealdor. Who knows, you might even be able to discover a purpose for your gifts. It’s your decision.”

Merlin inwardly grimaced when Gaius called his magic a “gift”, knowing that it was definitely anything but. But something in his uncle’s words resonated inside of him, allowing him to feel that for once there was a way to put his magic to good use for once.

He looked up at his mother’s face for her own input, being unable to make the decision completely on his own. She looked down tenderly at him, saying only “Do whatever you think is right, sweetheart. I’ll support you either way.” Even though her words were nothing but supportive, something in the way she said it broke his heart. Out of all the things that he would be leaving behind, he knew that leaving his mother would hurt the most.

Not knowing any other way to make his decision, Merlin decided to do something that he hadn’t dare try for years. He closed his eyes, pretending to think, when he actually reached out gently with his magic to find his mother’s mind. It didn’t take long to find with her being so close and familiar to him. He treaded carefully, trying not to give it away what he was doing. It wasn’t long before he saw what his mother was thinking and the swirl of emotions that was underneath it. It was difficult to completely decipher what she was thinking, so instead Merlin just let the general pictures and feelings wash over him.

Worry. That was the first and most prevalent thing that he saw in her mind. Worrying over him, to be precise. Worrying that he would leave her and go to a strange place where she couldn’t protect him. Worrying that something would happen to him, knowing that there would be no way that she would be able to forgive herself. There was a brief picture of his mother crying over someone’s grave and Merlin didn’t want to look at whose grave it was but he knew deep down inside that it was his own. There was also worry that he would stay with her and wouldn’t be able to learn all of the things that he could while he was at Ealdor. She worried that he would never learn to fully control his powers and someday someone would discover him and there would be nothing that she could do to save him.

No matter which emotion or image that he looked at, the main thing that he saw in his mother’s mind was worry, fear, and pain, all things that no one wants their mother to experience. _All because of me,_ he thought sadly as he quietly pulled out of his mother’s mind. His decision was made.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, making sure the tell-tale gold in his eyes had gone away before looking back at Gaius. “I’ll do it,” he said calmly, looking his uncle right in the eye. “I’ll go to Hogwarts to learn about my magic.” Something shifted inside of him, as if his magic was recognizing the enormity of his words. Almost like destiny itself was shifting around him, tying him to events that he couldn’t even dream of.

Both Hunith and Gaius looked surprised at his seemingly quick decision. “Are you sure, Merlin?” his mother asked hesitantly, letting go of him to get a better look at him. “You don’t have to make the decision now, you can think about it—“

“I’m sure Mom,” Merlin said quietly yet firmly. Now that he said it he knew that it was the right decision. He couldn’t stay with his mother any longer, being a burden as he was and causing her to worry. Even if he wasn’t learning how to control his magic better, he knew that it wouldn’t be right to stay with his mother any longer. “You’re always the one saying that I need to perfect my magic, right? Well here’s my chance to, and I’ve got to take it.”

His mother considered his words for a second, looking at him intently. In moments like these she saw more of his father than her in him and knew that trying to stop him would accomplish nothing. “Okay sweetheart. If this is what you want to do, then we’ll make it happen.”

Merlin smiled brightly at his mother, trying to hide his fear like he always did. He turned around to look at Gaius, who still had a surprisingly serious look on his face. “What do I do now, Gaius?”

“Nothing. I’ll send word that you have accepted the invitation to attend Hogwarts and make all of the necessary arrangements. All that I ask you to do is go with me in a couple of weeks to get all of the supplies that you’ll need.”

Merlin nodded in agreement before his face fell at a realization. “How much do you think the supplies will cost? I don’t have much, but...”

“Don’t you worry about that Merlin,” Gaius said quickly, brushing off his concerns. “I still have my birthday gift to give you, remember? I’ll provide all the supplies that you’ll need to attend, so long as you’re there to help me pick them out.”

At that Merlin’s eyes widened and embraced his uncle, extremely grateful. He had no idea how much the supplies would cost, but he knew that they wouldn’t be cheap. “Thank you so much, Gaius. I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

“Don’t mention it, my boy.” Gaius said, patting his back before letting go completely. “So I’ll see you, say, next Saturday?”

“I can’t wait,” Merlin replied truthfully. He couldn’t wait to start preparing to attend this mysterious school. He just couldn’t tell if it was out of excitement or fear for the changes that it would bring.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the wait on reading this chapter. I meant it to be up a lot sooner, seeing as though these first few chapters I've had planned out to a T for awhile now, but a strange little thing called life got in the way and I haven't had much time or motivation to write it until now. Anyway, any words of encouragement certainly help me keep going and I would appreciate any comments you have on my work. Enjoy!

Arthur couldn’t remember a time when he had ever felt as bored as he did now. Sure, he had sat in on plenty of his father’s council meetings with old, boring lords talking about old, boring things. There were a few times in the past when he even fancied to think that the situation he was in was the most boring situation that he would ever be in. However, at this moment he was surprisingly certain that _this_ was the time when he had the ultimate case of boredom that he—no, that _anyone_ had ever felt for at least a hundred years. Maybe even a thousand.

It didn’t help that today of all days should be fun, or at the very least slightly interesting. It was his birthday, after all. But his father didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word fun. When Arthur had asked for a large birthday party with lots of people, he expected lots of kids his own age and fun games for them all to play. Apparently, to his father, a large party meant a ballroom full of stuffy lords and nobles dressed in their most fancy finery. There were some kids, at least, but only the children of the nobles in attendance who only wanted to marry him or otherwise create an alliance with him in the future.

It probably also didn’t help that he happened to be the Prince, destined to become one of the most powerful men in the world. This meant, as his father had taught him, that everything he did must go towards the betterment of the kingdom. Arthur just wished that a big, fun birthday party would somehow better the kingdom. Based on the expressions of the nobles in the room, he certainly thought that it would at least help their mood.

But instead he was stuck in an uncomfortable shirt and tie, sitting at the head of a long table, next to his father, listening idly to boring conversations. It wasn’t fair that the rest of the guests, some of them who were even simple townsfolk and _servants_ , got to dance around merrily and enjoy themselves. It was almost like his father was punishing him for something.

_He might be,_ Arthur though idly, picking at a half eaten piece of meat with his fork. _Everyone knows it was my fault that Mother died._

The sudden and depressed nature of his thoughts surprised him, but that didn’t make the thoughts any less true to him. Sure, an evil sorceress wielding powerful mental magic brought about the end of his mother’s life, everyone knew that. But what Arthur, Uther, and those closest to them knew was that there would have been no need to resort to such measures in the first place had Arthur himself not been in danger. Indeed, if his mother’s pregnancy had not been so difficult for her (or if he had never been born, but that was a different discussion), magic would not have had to been used at all. And despite what his father tried to tell him over the years, the day of his birth was far more often a day of mourning than of celebration.

He looked away from his plate and looked at his surroundings. He would much rather be bored out of his mind than sad. Arthur glared at some servants, seeing if he could get a rise out of them with a mere look. To his delight almost as soon as his eyes made contact with theirs they both ran off, one filling one of the minor lord’s drink and the other high-tailing it back to the kitchen. As much as he enjoyed tormenting the servants in his father’s palace (it was one of the only things that could always brighten up his day), the more he kept doing it the less servants came near him, giving him less targets. Instead he looked for Morgana, his father’s ward and practically his sister. Even though she scared him sometimes, annoying her brought him even more entertainment then scaring the servants away. He soon remembered, however, that she was still in school and would not be back for another couple of weeks. Hogwarts was relatively close to the castle, so theoretically she could have come home to visit, but final exams took place during this week and the next and Morgana claimed that she couldn’t leave. Arthur wondered if it was just an excuse not to see him on his birthday, but decided that she would have wanted to come if only to make fun of him for having such a lame party.

Out of targets to torture for his amusement, Arthur looked around the hall. Despite the dull nature of the party and its attendants, Arthur had to admit that the decorations were rather cool. Floating candles provided a solemn but interesting lighting scheme, and it almost seemed like the majority of the candles were congregated right above his head, basking him in a golden glow. Sometimes when a particularly important person approached the table or had to leave, the candles would follow them to light their way more particularly than the regular attendants. The more candles they had the more important they were, Arthur quickly learned, and he found it was quite a good way to determine who was worth his attention.

The moving portraits always made for an interesting sight and Arthur might have spent more time looking at them if they weren’t generations of his own stuffy ancestors gazing at him expectantly. It was like they expected from him so much more than he had accomplished in his 11 short years of living, and Arthur hated the feeling of failure that they made him feel. Instead Arthur chose to concentrate his time looking at a giant banner that hung across the ceiling, reading “Happy Birthday Arthur Pendragon”, and next to the words was an extremely detailed depiction of his family’s crest, a golden dragon on a sea of red. Some of the court’s more affluent members must have enchanted it, since it periodically changed colors, designs, and, if one looked long enough, occasionally the dragon would leave its crest and circle around the banner before returning to its proper place.

It was after the second time that the dragon had made its round the banner when a page approached the table with something in his hand. Arthur wondered briefly if the page had some sort of a death wish, approaching his father no less while he was busy. Even if he was busy listening to the boring story of a boring noble (which his father probably found interesting since he obviously didn’t know what the word interesting meant), every servant knew that interrupting the King while he was busy was asking for a visit to the stocks or dungeons, depending on how important the activity was. Even though he worried slightly for the page’s safety, Arthur also knew that whatever was about to happen was probably going to be more interesting than anything that had happened at this party so far, so he settled into his chair and watched.

The page had the good grace to at least wait until Uther was not talking and there was a pause in the conversation. “My lord?” he said softly, barely loud enough for Arthur to hear him. If Uther had noticed him, he chose to ignore him as he started listening to yet another story by the same noble who had claimed his attention for much of the night. Once it became apparent that Uther wasn’t going to answer, the page decided to try again. “Excuse me, my lord?” he said, louder this time but still a question in his voice, as if his uncertainty would protect him.

There was no excuse for Uther to ignore the page at this point and he said to the noble he was talking to “Pardon me for a moment, Lord Odin. I just need to take care of this.” The words sounded amiable and patient enough, but Arthur knew from experience that it was just the act that he had to put on for the sake of the nobility present. His tone and posture hinted at the anger boiling underneath, and Arthur almost felt bad for the fact that he was looking forward to what was going to happen next (which may or may not have something to do with the fact that he was relieved to see his father’s anger directed at someone else). Odin looked far more annoyed than he had any right to be, but at least he seemed to know that there was nothing that he could do about the situation. Uther whipped around to face the page, allowing more of his rage to show on his face and appear in his words. “What is it.”

The page swallowed and, seeming to know that if he didn’t provide a reasonable answer to why he just interrupted his master and King in the middle to a conversation he might actually be executed, worked to make sure his words came out right. “P-pardon me, my lord, but you—I was ordered to give this letter directly to you, as soon as it arrived. And it arrived just now, my lord, so I came to deliver it to you. Sire.” Then, realizing that he had not actually given the letter to the King yet, reached out with the hand that the letter was in and handed it to the King with slightly shaking hands.

Uther’s face contorted in confusion for a second as he took the letter from the page, which was much better than the anger was but not nearly as amusing to Arthur. He looked at it for a moment and his confusion melted away and gave way to a genuine smile, which was a rare sight. “Thank you, uh...?”

“George,” the page offered in a small voice, just as confused as everyone else was at the King’s sudden change of emotion.

“Yes, George, of course. This letter bears great news for this kingdom. You were right to bring this letter straight to me,” Uther replied, looking more at the envelope than at George. He didn’t seem to mind, however, as he bowed deep and low as if he was given a great compliment. “You may go now.” Uther finished once it became clear that George wasn’t going to leave. This cued George to bow deeply again, mutter something that was almost groveling and practically run away from the table as fast as he could.

Uther continued to look at the envelope, smiling to himself as he did so. Arthur leaned over to look at what his father was holding, curious beyond belief at what could possibly make his father so instantaneously happy. To his surprise, the letter was not addressed to his father, but rather to himself. The script was elegant and familiar but it was clear that it was addressed to a “ _Mr. A. Pendragon, The Room at the Top of the East Tower, Pendragon Palace, Camelot_ ”. Arthur wanted to grab the envelope and open it to discover who could know where he lived to such an exact degree. But before Arthur could even think about grabbing the letter from his father, Uther tore open the envelope and took out its contents, and Arthur was reminded that even when things belonged to him they were his father’s first and foremost. There were two pieces of paper inside written on plain paper but for all of Arthur’s trying he could not get a peak as to what the letter said.

“Father, what does it say?” Arthur started to say, suddenly desperate to find out the contents of the letter. Something in his gut told him that whatever the letter said would dictate the course of his future and Arthur wasn’t one to ignore his intuition.

Instead of answering, Arthur’s father stood up and placed the letter on the table, instead grabbing a glass and a fork. He tapped the fork on the side of the glass just loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “May I have your attention please,” Uther began in a loud voice and he waited until the chatter had died down before continuing. “I hate to interrupt you all on this day of celebration, but I have an announcement to make...”

Seeing his opportunity, Arthur reached over and grabbed the letter, flipping it over and fumbling with it in his eagerness to read it. The very first words that he could see were printed at the top in the same elegant script that was on the envelope. _“Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”_ Arthur could feel his stomach sink to the bottom of his feet.

Ignorant to what his son was doing (or choosing to ignore it like he usually did), Uther continued with his speech. “...many have seen my son, Arthur, grow into the fine young man you see before you. I could not be more proud...”

If Arthur had heard his father’s speech, he might have been shocked or even touched at his father’s words. But the sound around him didn’t quite reach his ears, the only thing that he could pay attention to was the words on the sheet of paper. “ _Dear Mr. Pendragon, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”_ The words swum around his head as he tried to make sense of them. Accepted? To Hogwarts? He didn’t remember applying, but then again it was definitely something that his father would do behind his back. But no one applied to Hogwarts, he remembered, they were chosen from the most powerful witches and wizards in Camelot. And he was one of them. He shouldn’t be so surprised, he told himself. He was the Prince and he was sure that even if he had no magical ability whatsoever he would had still been accepted to Hogwarts. It was his title they cared about, not his skill.

“...there are many ways to define a great person, a great prince, and Arthur for his few years has shown great promise to myself and his people...” Uther’s voice continued, his voice rich with the strength of a king and the pride of a father. Arthur still wasn’t listening.

_“Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1 st.” _The date seemed to be far away, but still so close. Could he do it? Could he leave his home, his people, to go to a school to learn for seven years? Morgana did it, but she was far more patient than he was and he wondered if he would be able to stay there for so long. Or even if he was good enough with magic to last there.

“...but I digress. Listen to me, blathering on like a mother hen over her son.” This got a chuckle from the crowd. “I do actually have an announcement to make. Just now, we received a letter...”

_“We await your owl by no later than July 31 st. Yours sincerely, Geoffrey Monmouth, Deputy Headmaster.”_ Wait, he could actually decline? Arthur just that that as soon as you were accepted that you had to go there. After all, who in their right mind would say no? (He distinctly ignored the  fact that he almost wanted to say no at that moment.)

Arthur’s mind slowed down enough to finally catch the last bit of Uther’s speech. Or, rather, Uther put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder, pulling him away from the thoughts coursing through his head. “Prince Arthur will be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he will learn become one of the most gifted wizards in the country. We all expect great things from him.” With those last words Arthur saw his father smile the warmest smile that he had ever seen, and he felt himself freeze. In that moment Arthur knew that he could not let his father down, even if it meant leaving home and learning magic in an unfamiliar place. His father placed all of this trust in him and expected him to be brave and strong and great and _good_ , and Arthur knew that he would fight to keep that smile on his father’s face forever. “To Arthur!” His father called out loudly, raising his glace to all of the attendants.

“To Arthur!” Every single person cheered back, his people, all wishing him the best and to be the best. As much as he didn’t want to disappoint his father, he knew that disappointing the people of Camelot was simply not an option. He would do anything to become the great leader and wizard his father believed he could be, that his people needed him to be. He could not let them down.

“Well, Arthur, do you have anything to say?”

Arthur looked back at him and blinked, his brain still trying to catch up from the newness of it all and the weight of the responsibility.

Uther, looking slightly exasperated, squeezed his shoulder tighter and said “Aren’t you excited, Arthur? You’ve just been accepted to the best school for magic in the world.” Excited? Maybe, but Arthur more felt the contents of his stomach twisting and turning in anxiousness.

“Of course, father,” Arthur found himself saying, the words coming almost coming from somewhere else. “I was just wondering what took them so long to send it.” His voice sounded arrogant even to himself, but for someone reason it felt a whole lot better than trying to admit what he was really feeling. If his father had taught him anything, its better to look strong and composed than weak and afraid.

This got a laugh out of the crowd, much more than a polite chuckle that jokes made by nobility usually got. Even Uther barked out a laugh, slapping his son on the back. “That’s what I like to hear. Now, let’s continue the feast! Now there are even more reasons to celebrate!”

The party continued on, and at least Arthur could say that he wasn’t bored anymore. If anything, he was suddenly filled with energy. Part of it was the fact that he was a child and therefore has far too much energy for it to be normal. But the main reason that he was so hyped was somehow related to his newfound responsibility to his people. Rather than tire him out, he was filled with a sort of manic energy that allowed him to be extremely personable towards his future subjects.

Instead of eating glumly at the table, he engaged actively in the conversations going on at the table that he was sitting at. At first, many people came to extend their congratulations and happy birthday wishes to Arthur, which he was more than happy to accept. To his surprise, his father’s closest friend (if his father had any friends) Gaius didn’t stop by the table. When Arthur asked about him, his father said “He wished that he could make it today, but his job made it rather impossible to be here. You know how busy he can be.” Arthur actually didn’t know how busy Gaius could be since he couldn’t actually remember what he did for a living, but instead of asking he just nodded and continued talking with the nobles.

Eventually, people stopped approaching the table and Arthur instead focused on the nobles that were sitting at the table and actually engaging in conversation with them. There was some listening involved, but most of the time Arthur spent in conversation consisted of him telling the entire table of all of the noble things that he had accomplished and the funny things that happened to other people. He had the entire table enthralled from one story to the next, practically begging for more. (And if they started to yawn or look at their watches, Arthur blamed that on the lateness of the hour rather than his exquisite story-telling).

It wasn’t long before story-telling had him sitting still for too long and before his father could stop him he jumped out of his chair, grabbed a lady who was only a year or so older than he was, and started to dance. It was a fast paced dance to match a fast paced song, and Arthur found that it was actually rather difficult to keep up with the steps. His lady did not seem to fare any better; by the end of the song she was panting and her cheeks were reddened (and not in the particularly attractive way, either). Being the gentleman that he is, he kissed her hand and then ran off to find his next partner. The next song was not nearly as fast, but Arthur found that he genuinely liked dancing, and danced to that song and for many of the next ones.

The ladies that he would partner up with slowly started to go up in age, seeing as though there weren’t many that were even close to the same age that he was, and next thing Arthur knew he was dancing with a woman several heads taller than him. It was incredibly difficult to dance the proper way due to their height difference, but they laughed their way through it. And by the end of the song Arthur went to kiss her hand like he had the other ladies before, but instead she bent down to give him a sweet if slightly sloppy kiss on the cheek, leaving a bright red lipstick mark where her lips were. Blushing wildly, he decided that the was as good of a time as any to make his way back to his chair.

Uther was engaged in conversation and Arthur thought and hoped that he could slip back into his seat without being noticed. He had no luck though; almost as soon as he sat in his chair his father’s eyes were on him, completely serious. Uther eyed his son up and down and for a split second Arthur thought that he was going to receive a scolding. A moment later, much to Arthur’s surprise, the King’s serious demeanor broke into a smile and a laugh, causing the other nobles sitting at the table to join it. Arthur grinned showing his crooked teeth, caught off guard but enjoying the attention. And then Uther reached his hand over and _ruffled his hair_. Uther Pendragon, the king of the realm, most powerful man in the world, ruthless in battle and merciless against sorcerers, _his father_ just ruffled his hair in affection.

Arthur thought that he might burst of happiness.

Of course, good things must end eventually, and before he knew it many of the guests had already left and those that remained were saying their goodbyes. Between the overly long farewells to the important guests and the extremely short farewells to the non-important guests, Arthur stifled a yawn or two. Despite his great energy earlier, the weight of the day and the part started to lay down on him once more. He was about to attempt to find a way to excuse himself from the table and start getting ready for bed when a man approached the table with his son.

By the amount of floating candles that gathered over the man and the child, Arthur knew that this must be someone important. It took a moment to remember that this was one of the lords that his father was talking to before the letter was delivered, Lord Odin. It seemed like it happened longer ago than a few hours. “Your majesty, my son and I would like to offer our gratitude for hosting us. It was an honor to be here to celebrate this important day.” Both he and his son bowed low.

Lord Odin was a broad, powerful man with a sword on one side and his wand on the other. If he had not been in his own home, Arthur would have almost been apprehensive (not afraid, because he was never afraid) of him. His son, however, was a thin gangly thing, only slightly taller than Arthur himself but barely any muscle on him. Arthur could have sworn that he almost stumbled over when he bowed, forcing Arthur to stifle a laugh.

“The honor was all ours,” Uther said graciously, always knowing the formal way to accept  compliments without actually accepting them. “Please, any time you would like to visit the doors of the castle will be open to you.”

“Thank you, sire,” Odin replied equally as graciously. He then turned and addressed Arthur directly, who quickly straightened up and attempted to appear more prince-like. “I believe I never got the chance to congratulate you on your announcement, Prince Arthur. It is reassuring news to know that our next sovereign will be attending the finest school in Camelot.” At this Odin paused and put his arm on his son’s shoulder. “In fact, interestingly enough, my son is also currently attending Hogwarts. You might see each other and, perhaps, even become friends.”

Arthur snorted slightly at this, looking straight at Odin’s son. Even if he was stronger than he looks—which Arthur doubted, due to the way that he shrunk away from his father’s grip on his shoulder—he knew for certain that he could never be friends with someone so cowardly that he shook in the face of royalty. “I doubt that,” Arthur found himself saying before he knew that the words were even formed in his mind.

The movement happened so quickly that Arthur wasn’t sure if he would have been able to stop it even if he saw it coming. One second, hot twisted rage formed in the face of Lord Odin; the next, Odin’s hand was gripping Arthur’s shirt and pulling him slightly across the table. Guards that he had barely even noticed pulled out their wants, but Uther quickly put his hand up to stop them from firing any spells. “You’re a cheeky boy, aren’t you?” Odin spat in Arthur’s face, his strong hand forcing Arthur to look him in the eye and prevented him from squirming at all.

“Yes he is,” Uther offered calmly, but anyone with ears could hear the cold steel in his voice. “As all boys his age are.” Odin turned to face the King, the hot anger in the former’s eyes meeting with the cold anger in the latter’s. A few heavy moments passed when there was no movement from anyone. Odin seemed to understand the unspoken command in Uther’s voice however and let Arthur go. He landed on the table with a thud and scrambled back to his seat, eager to be able to get away.

“I’m sure that it was merely tiredness and a long day that caused him to say something so rude. Right, Arthur?”

Seeing his way out, he was more than happy to say “Yes, of course.” And, to see the story even further Arthur even managed to yawn pretty convincingly.

“Now, Arthur, say you’re sorry to Lord Odin and his son for your little joke,” Uther said to his son, the steely edge still in his voice.

“But—“

Uther cut him off before he could make the situation even worse. “ _Apologize_ , Arthur”

Arthur swallowed his pride and faced Odin, whose face was red and glare murderous, and his son, who looked far more afraid than insulted. “I apologize for my...tasteless joke.” He started, struggling to come up with the right words and sound remorseful at the same time. “I look forward to seeing your son at Hogwarts and...I am sure that we will someday be friends.” _If he suddenly changed himself completely around and stopped being a coward_ , Arthur added, but luckily only in his head.

Odin’s face, though no less terrifying, softened slightly at the apology that Arthur made. “We accept your apology,”Odin said, and when his son didn’t respond he elbowed him slightly in the ribs.

“Y-yes, apology accepted,” he said, and for a moment Arthur almost felt bad for him.

Uther seemed to sigh in relief and he allowed some of the coldness to leave his face and voice. “Now, I hate to leave on such unpleasant terms, Lord Odin. Perhaps you would like to enjoy our hospitality a little longer and stay the night—“

“That won’t be necessary, sire,” Odin replied stiffly. “I think it would be best for us all if we headed back for the night.”

“Very well. If there is anything that you need, please let us know.” If Uther was good at anything, it was soothing angry nobles, and Arthur couldn’t help but be impressed.

Odin smiled then, a terrible smile that chilled Arthur to the bone. “We will be sure to.” He and his son then bowed low and offered brief farewells. Before Arthur could even reply to the farewell Odin grabbed his son’s arm and lead him forcibly out of the door.

Uther slumped against his chair for a moment, suddenly looking more worried and tired than a King should ever be seen. This only lasted a moment though, and soon enough the king’s gaze landed back on his son. “Head to your chambers, Arthur.”

“But father—”

“That’s an order,” his father practically growled, causing Arthur to jump back in his seat. Where had the father gone that would laugh with him and ruffle his hair? “I can’t have you screwing anything else up tonight. I’ll be there to talk to you in a little while, but just go and let me finish here.”

Stunned and not knowing what else to do, lowered his head and pulled himself out of his chair and started to head towards the tower that contained his chambers. Normally he would have been annoyed when two guards fell into step behind him, but after what happened with Odin he was secretly grateful for the protection. A man who reacted first with his fist rather than his wand wasn’t a man that Arthur was keen to cross again.

Once he arrived at his chambers, he sat down on his bed. He didn’t dare try to change into more comfortable clothes or even his pajamas, knowing that his father would be there any minute to talk to him. He even refused the sweets and warm milk that his manservant tried to offer him, being to full yet empty at the same time to eat anything. It did make him feel a little bit better to let his anger out on his manservant a little bit, but not enough to make it okay to do so.

After what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes, Arthur could hear the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs on the way to his room. Arthur quickly stood up straight and tall, mostly out of habit at knowing that his father was approaching. Uther flung the doors open to his room without as much as a knock. Arthur recognized many emotions on his father’s face, with the most prevalent of course being anger.

“What were you _thinking_ , Arthur, addressing Lord Odin and his son like that!” the king said quickly closing the space between him and his son. “How could you be so stupid as to openly insult him like that!”

Arthur blinked and swallowed the lump that was beginning to grow in his throat, knowing that the last thing his father would want to see in him was weakness. “I’m sorry, father, I—”

"Sorry doesn’t cut it, Arthur!” Uther yelled, hitting his fist on the bedpost. “Odin is a dangerous man and even more dangerous for the power he wields in court. He has been known to throw injure people for far less of an injury.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead slightly with his hand. “You can’t go around insulting powerful lords, Arthur. Surely I must have taught you better than that.”

Silence passed between them for a few moments, and while Arthur was glad that his father was no longer quite so livid he was also unsure as to continue the conversation. “Father,” he decided, going with what he thought was a safe route. “I truly am sorry. I didn’t mean to say it, I meant it as a joke—“

Instead of making Uther less mad at him, this only caused the fire of his anger to flare up again. “You have to mean everything you say! You are the prince and will one day be the king of this entire realm. You words _mean_ something, Arthur, even if you might not intend them to.”

The king looked at his son and when he saw a blank look of confusion on his face rather than understanding, Uther’s anger gave way to exasperation. “You can’t be a child anymore, Arthur. Despite your age people expect you to be much more mature since you are the prince and _my_ son. These are the people you will have to work with to rule your kingdom one day. In order to do so, you have to give up your childish notions and learn to own everything that comes out of your mouth otherwise you will be eaten alive by those you have sworn to protect.” There was another pause as Uther continued to gauge his son’s reactions. “Do you understand me?”

No, Arthur didn’t understand. He knew that he was a child at heart—a child who longed to run and play with the other children and pull pranks and stay out past dinner time. He understood commitment to his people, but he didn’t understand why being a prince meant that he had to give up everything that he loved to be a perfect ruler. He didn’t understand how he was supposed to avoid making mistakes when he was still human. “I understand, Father,” he chose to say instead, knowing that further arguments would only prove to his father how much of a child he was.

Uther’s eyes searched his son’s for a moment and apparently whatever he found in them was satisfactory. “Good.” He put his hands on his son’s shoulders. “You will be a great king one day, Arthur, once your realize that people will respect your strength as a man, not as a child.” Uther removed his hands from his son’s shoulders and started to head out of the room, talk apparently older. “Good night, Arthur.”

It was long after the door shut that Arthur found himself able to move from his current position. In fact, it was only when his manservant had opened the door when Arthur realized that he was still standing in the same spot as he had been before. In his manservant’s hand—what was his name, Bernard?—was Arthur’s favorite pair of footed pajamas, light blue with rubber ducks on them. He placed them on the bed folded nicely and set about straightening up various things in Arthur’s rooms.

Arthur looked at the pajamas on his bed, want desperately to put them on and take comfort in their warmth. But his father’s words still rang in his head and he knew that he couldn’t wear those pajamas. “What is that?” Arthur asked loudly, his voice more raw than he wanted it to be.

The manservant looked confused for a second. “Those are your nightclothes, sire,” he answered slowly.

“I can’t possibly wear this!” Arthur said, throwing the extremely soft pajamas back at Bernard or whatever his name was. “These are for a _child_. I’m eleven now.” He explained, as if that answered everything.

The servant quickly recovered himself, catching the pajamas. “Of course, sire. I will go bring you more suitable attire.” He then left the room, presumably to find better pajamas. A minute or two later he returned with a dark red shirt and bottom, and as soon as he felt them he knew that they weren’t nearly as soft as his old ones.

“These are much better,” Arthur said and quickly put them on before he could change his mind. Looking relieved, Bernard turned and waited by the door for the prince to settle in so he could turn off the lights. As soon as he put on the much more adult pajamas, Arthur crawled into bed and pulled the covers over him.

Seeing his cue, the servant turned off the lights with the flick of his wand. “Need anything else for the night, sire?”

Arthur thought for a moment before answering. “No, that will be all.” Nodding, Bernard stepped out of the room and started to close the door behind him. “Wait!” Arthur said, suddenly not wanting to be left alone.

“Yes, sire?” Bernard asked, a question in his voice. “What would you like?”

I would like a story, Arthur wanted to stay. I want you to tell me how this is the way that my father shows his love for me. I want you to stay here during the night and talk to me and make me feel less completely alone. Instead of saying any of those things, Arthur instead said “Make sure you get rid of those old pajamas. I never want to wear those again.”

A strange look passed over Bernard’s face and if Arthur didn’t know any better he would say that it almost looked like some sort of pity. “Of course, sire.” He started to close the door again, but not without saying softly “Good night, Prince Arthur.”

The next morning, when Uther asked how his night was over their breakfast, Arthur would say that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. And if anyone had dared asked if he cried at all before drifting off to sleep, he would tell them of course not, crying was for children and he most certainly wasn’t a child. Not anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the by, I changed my username from AuroraLynn to firstbestdestinys. Don't worry, I'm the same person!

Merlin was expecting many things when he made his first journey into the world of magic. He expected, well, magic--the feeling of magic in the air, brushing against his skin and his own magic humming in response to it. He expected wonders left and right, people that he never even dreamed of performing feats he wished that he would one day be able to do. He expected shops where things that whispered to him promises of great things as he passed by, temptations that would take all of his willpower (and Gaius) in order to be able to resist. Basically Merlin expected every story that he had ever read of in books or heard from his mother to come true in one amazing trip.

And while all of these things did come true, there was one thing that he did not expect. The busy walkway of Camelot was very, very loud.

Not only was it loud in the most obvious sense of the word, with various witches and wizards talking and spells whizzing by with pops and bangs and whistles, for someone with sorcery as well the mental noise was almost unbearable. Merlin was used to the quiet town of Ealdor, more or less secluded in his house. Even during the school year, as Hunith home-schooled him for fear of his sorcery being found out, Merlin came into contact with very few people, and when he did it was definitely not in large quantities. The most that he ever had to deal with at one particular time was Will's sixth birthday party, which he had to leave early because Hunith had caught Merlin making the story that Will was telling come to life in the mind of the other children there. Luckily for Merlin, the children's reactions could easily be explained by the children's overactive imaginations. Unluckily for Merlin, he wasn't allowed to any more birthday parties after that, and saw his friends even less than he already did.

This meant that Camelot, with its large quantities of people who were all thinking very loudly, was a new type of torture for Merlin. He could feel the thoughts of the people around him press up against him as if they were physically there. Pictures overwhelmed his sight and feelings overwhelmed his emotions, and without Giaus to guide him by hand he was sure that he would have knocked into someone more than the once or twice that he actually did. Even the smells of memories and the sound of thoughts happy and sad and excited and bored bombarded his senses. For the most part he couldn't quite get the details of what other people were thinking, much to Merlin's relief, but every once in awhile when someone passed close enough Merlin got a full, brief look into their mind. It was times like these that he could tell that his eyes turned that tell-tale shade of gold. As a result, he tried to keep his eyes on the ground, afraid of what would happen if someone were to notice. Merlin felt like he was drowning in his magic, with the energy of all the people around him weighing him down and putting pressure on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

While he wished that he could pay more attention to his first trip outside of his home town, he was far more concerned with not letting his own magic escape. He could already feel it, pulsing underneath his veins, like a dammed up river seeking its release. "Is it always so noisy here, Giaus?" He asked, making his voice louder so he could be heard over the din, both real and in his head.

"No need to be so loud, Merlin," Gaius responded without looking at his charge, instead scanning the stores that they passed in search for the one that they needed. "I can hear you just fine. And this is actually a pretty quiet time for the city, considering that its the weekend. Must be because we're here so early." They kept walking along the road. When Merlin didn't respond to him, Gauis looked down at the boy quizzically. "Is everything all right, Merlin?"

Gauis looked so concerned for him that Merlin didn't want to worry him any more than he already was. "I'm fine," Merlin lied, looking up at Gauis and trying to give him a smile. When this didn't make him seem any less worried, Merlin continued "Well, mostly fine. You see, its just so must noisier here than it is in Ealdor. Not the _noise_ noise, but the _noise_ , you know?" At the last "noise," Merlin raised up his hands and motioned towards his head, palms facing his ears, and made a sort of shaking motion. While it seemed innocent enough, this was the symbol that both Gauis and Merlin had come up with a long time ago as a way to talk about mental magic in public without actually talking about it.

Gauis' face winced in sympathy and just a little bit of fear. He always knew the boy was more powerful than any sorcerer that he had ever known, both in person or in history, but if he was able to pick up the thoughts of people just by mere proximity then the problem was bigger than he had ever thought possible. He squeezed his ward's hand. "I know what you mean, Merlin. I'm sorry if this is a little overwhelming for you, but its going to be just as noisy at Hogwarts as it is here, if not more so." Merlin's face twisted in disgust at that, and he felt a sense of dread about going to this new school, and not for the first time. Gauis switched tactics. "Try to think of this as a mental discipline exercise meant to control your magic." 

Merlin rolled his eyes at his mentor's ability to make things all about his lesson and magic, but nevertheless this new way of looking at things at least gave him a new purpose for this torture. And he found that by focusing on his own thoughts and on specific details of the world around him that the noise around him dimmed to a much more manageable level. While the magic was still flooding in him, it was more like a bubbling stream than a coursing river.

They walked the streets of Camelot in this way for a few more minutes, navigating their way through the busy streets until they reached a shop that Gauis was satisfied with. While Merlin didn't quite see the name of the shop, he did notice the various animals in cages hanging in the window and assumed that it was some sort of pet shop.

While Merlin was hoping for some respite from the noise outside, when he entered the shop he found that it was quite the opposite. While the mental noise seemed to die down considerably, since people are the creatures that by far think the loudest, it was replaced with even louder voices all talking at once. From the deep croaky voices of the toads to the high purring voices of the cats, the shop was alive with talk. Merlin learned at an early age that most people couldn't understand animals without formally casting a spell with a wand. And even then, the voices didn't sound quite so...human, like they did to Merlin. So Merlin did his best to ignore the chatter of the animals, even the vague insults of his and Gauis' appearance.

"Welcome, welcome," the loud shopkeeper said to them as they walked in. His voice was boisterous and loud, yet it seemed to fit with his solid body and reddened cheeks. "It's always a pleasure to see you Gaius!" He walked over to Gaius and wrapped him in a big hug, which was both uncomfortable for Gaius and hilarious for Merlin.

"Hello--hello, Elirtas. It's good to see you too." Gaius responded with as much grace as he could manage. As Elirtas put him down, Gaius let out of puff of breath.

"You don't come by often enough," the large man said with a slightly lopsided grin. While a little loud, Merlin decided that he liked the man. He did his best to ignore the airy voice of the owl next to him saying "It's not hard to see why," but not even Merlin could resist a small chuckle at its wit.

"I'm afraid work keeps me away more often than I'd like," Gaius said easily. "But today I'm actually here on a more personal reason. My nephew, Merlin here--"

Before Gaius could finish his sentence, however, Elirtas' gaze switched over from Gaius to Merlin. "Nephew, huh? You never mentioned that you had any relatives! Nice to meet you, son!" Before Merlin could resist the man also picked Merlin up in a bear hug as well, knocking the air out of his lungs. The animals around the shop cackled and laughed at Merlin's obvious discomfort. But as soon as Merlin was released from Elirtas' grasp, he shot the offending animals a glare and that was enough to keep them quiet for the time being. "He's a bit small to be attending Hogwarts, don't you think? I thought you had to be eleven in order to attend."

"That's right, Elirtas," Gaius responded, amusement in his eye. "And the the age for getting accepted hasn't changed, last time I checked."

"Still, the lad could use a little meat on his bones. When I was his age--"

"Yes, yes, Elirtas, we all remember when you were a strapping young lad that could lift boulders over your head while on one foot." Gaius' sarcasm was subtle, yet after spending enough time with Gaius it was easy for Merlin to detect it.

Elirtas looked blankly at Gaius for a few moments before breaking out in uproarious laughter, soon followed by Gaius' softer laughter. "My, Gaius, you haven't changed one bit!"

Merlin tugged slightly at Gaius' sleeve to try to get his attention. As much as Merlin was trying to be patient, there was a whole store of talking animals to explore which at the moment seemed much more interesting than two adults talking. "Gaius? Can I go look around at the animals now?"

Gaius looked down at his ward, almost as if he forgot that he was there. "Oh, oh yes, go right on ahead. Elirtas and I are going to stay here and catch up a bit while you do that. Remember, only owls, cats, and toads are allowed at Hogwarts, so you won't be able to bring anything else."

"Okay!" Merlin said and then bounded down to explore the rest of the store, glad to be away from the boring adult talk. He never quite understood why it could all sound the same and yet the adults find it so interesting.

Merlin passed the toads and frogs that were for sale, since he knew already that he wouldn't be able to handle their voices for more than a couple of days, and most of them didn't seem to have very pleasant things to say anyways. Next to the toads and the frogs was a giant fish tank full of colorful, exotic fish. He stared at them for a long time, standing on his tip-toes to be able to see the fish floating towards the top of the tank. As they spoke he could only hear the words as the bubbles reached the surface of the tank, which provided an interesting yet distracting cacophony of words and phrases that didn't make much sense. While he definitely would have liked to get one of the fish, he knew that he wouldn't be allowed to bring it with him to Hogwarts so he decided to keep on going deeper into the store.

There was a whole aisle dedicated to owls, and here there were even more kinds then were displayed at the windows. Feathers of all different shapes and colors adorned birds of all different sizes, creating quite a sight for Merlin to see. And the things that the owls were saying seemed to be pretty nice, at least compared to the toads and frogs. One even went as far as to compliment him on his hair, but Merlin could tell that it was just trying to flatter Merlin into getting him to take it home with him. Still, Merlin's gaze lingered from cage to cage trying to choose which one he might like to keep as a pet, until it rested on a bird that was alone in a cage. It was one of the only quiet birds, which was a surprise to Merlin. This was because it currently had something in its beak that it was trying to eat. To Merlin's horror he realized that what the owl had in its beak was a limp mouse. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it,) the mouse was already dead, or else Merlin would have to suffer to hear the last words of a dying mouse. Even so, Merlin's stomach dropped at the sight and knew at once he would not be able to feed an owl mice every day, live or dead. He rushed away from the aisle as fast as he could.

He made his way slowly through the rest of the store, each minute promising himself that he would look for pets that he could actually have but still finding new animals to amaze himself with. From brightly colored birds to small rats and mice, lizards to dogs, and even chinchillas and monkeys, this shop seemed to have everything. And the conversations that the animals were having was so interesting that he was tempted to join, but he knew that Gaius would be disappointed with him if he used mental magic here in the store so he didn't. He finally came to the last aisle in the store, the one where all the cats were contained. Some of the cats were talking amongst themselves as they bathed themselves, and others were talking in their sleep while they napped. But there was one cat sitting alone in one of the cages that was as wide and awake as the other animals, yet wasn't saying a word. It wasn't even making the normal sound of purring or meowing, just a strange, silent cat.

Merlin guessed that the cat was a girl based on the pink collar that was around her neck, but other than that he knew nothing about her. Her fur was short and white, almost non-existent. She was smaller than all of the rest of the cats, though she didn't look like a kitten. Her eyes were a soft blue as they stared back at Merlin, and he noticed that there was a scare across one of her eyes. Merlin's heart rang out in sympathy for her.

"Hello?" He said softly, moving his face closer to the cage. The cat didn't respond, but instead blinked her eyes slowly at him. He know implicitly that this was a sign of trust. "Hello, my name is Merlin. What's your name?" Once again, she didn't respond, but just stared at him with her big, blue eyes, as if waiting for something. "Can you talk to me?" He said, trying to get some form of communication out of her.

One of the cats in the cage to Merlin's left yawned at stretched. "Of course, the only cat this kid is interested in in the whole store happens to be the freak." He said, licking a black paw nonchalantly. "What a shame."

While the pale white cat did not seem to even register the insult, Merlin bristled and turned to face the black cat. "She's not a freak!" He said a little too loudly. He knew that the louder he talked the more likely that Gaius would find out that he was using sorcery when he wasn't supposed to be, but it was worth it to defend the silent cat.

"Whoa, whoa there kid," the black cat said, eyes wide in surprise. "I didn't know you could understand--I mean, that's not what I meant to say. What I meant, was you shouldn't bother trying to get her to talk. She's been silent like that ever since she came in. Doesn't talk to nobody, not even the ones who even try to talk to her. Most of us don't bother, since she's a--she's so strange. Me, on the other hand, I _love_ to talk, so you--"

"Thank you," Merlin said, interrupting the black cat to turn back to the one he was looking at before. Insulted, the black cat muttered some not-kind words to himself before settling back down again to take a nap.

"Is it true that you don't talk?" Merlin asked the pale cat, fingers up against the cage. While she didn't respond by talking, as he expected, she did bob her head up and down in a sort of nod. Merlin found this encouraging. "Well that's okay. Things are going to be really loud for me at my new school, so it'll be nice to have a pet that isn't very talkative." He said this soothingly, trying to make the cat feel more comfortable with his presence. While he couldn't quite explain it, he felt a certain connection to the pale cat and was inclined to try to protect it. "What should I call you though...?"

Before Merlin could finish his thought, Gaius' voice could be heard down the aisle. "Oh, there he is, I found him!" Face red with guilt, he turned away from the cat cage and tried to get rid of the golden eyes that he was sure to have that would give him away. He wasn't quite quick enough, however, and as soon as Gaius reached him his smile turned into a frown. "Merlin! Stop that at once! I can't believe that you would be so foolish as to--"

"Did the young lad find a pet to his liking then," Elirtas' loud voice boomed from the other end of the aisle. Gaius gave Merlin a look that clearly said _We'll talk about this later,_ and Merlin took this as his way out.

"Yeah I did! This one, she's really cute!" Merlin pointed to the pale cat excitingly, forgetting for a moment that he had even done anything wrong. 

Elirtas seemed surprised at Merlin's pick. "That one, huh? Not my first choice, to be honest. We found her in the back alley a few months ago, all pale and beat up. She probably used to be a good looking cat but some things you can never quite recover from. She's also a quiet cat, never even a hiss or a meow, which is strange for cats her age. Not that friendly either. How about you look for a cat that's better suited for someone your age?"

Merlin shook his head with a stubbornness that only eleven-year-olds can have. "No, she's perfect. I want her." He wrapped his fingers around the cage again, and this time the silent cat padded up to him and rubbed her face against his hand. "Besides, I think she likes me."

"Wow, I've never seen her do that before," Elirtas said approvingly. "Not even for the person who gives her treats. You must be great with animals, lad."

"You could say that," Gaius said dryly, knowing exactly how Merlin was able to connect so easily with the strange cat. However, Gaius also had a soft spot for misfits and loners. "Well, Merlin, do you think that the one you want?"

Merlin nodded excitedly, using his fingers to scratch gently along her neck. While he couldn't hear her purr, he knew from the feeling that he was getting off of her that she was content.

"Well then, I'd say its a done deal!" Elirtas said. "Now, if you just excuse me lad, I'll go get her ready for you to take home..."

Within a matter of minutes the pale cat was cleaned up, put in a new cage, and paid for. Merlin was practically bouncing with excitement, causing his magic to bubble in him. But after talking and listening to all the animals it was no longer in danger of being released. After saying goodbye to Elirtas, Gaius and Merlin left the store and headed out to the busy streets of Camelot.

They had not gotten two steps away from the store before Gaius started scolding Merlin. "Merlin, you know you're not supposed to use--well, you know. _That_ magic." He said in the voice that was reserved for the worst scolding. "Do you know how close Elirtas was to catching you, using your gifts openly like that? He is my friend, but I can't expect him or anyone else to see something like that without reporting it. Are you even listening to me?"

By this point Merlin was looking at the pale cat in the cage, poking his fingers in to see if he could get her to get more comfortable with him. "Yeah, I'm listening," he said. In truth, he was only half paying attention, but he knew what Gaius was going to say anyway. "It was stupid of me to use my--" here he made the motion around his head which meant _sorcery_ "--in a public place like that, I'm going to get caught one day, you won't always be there to protect me, the usual stuff."

Gaius sighed and put his hand on Merlin's shoulder, making the boy face him. His voice softened, changing from stern to something more sympathetic and concerned. "I know this is hard for you Merlin. But you're not in Ealdor anymore. Here, a single slip up could get both me and you thrown in the dungeon at best and even worse--" Gaius stopped at that, not wanting to say what would happen but Merlin knew what he meant. "You are going to have to be even more careful here than you ever have been before. You have to understand that."

"I do, Gaius," Merlin said sincerely. "I really do. I won't let it happen again, I promise. It's just hard, you know, with all the animals talking away _not_ to talk back at them."

"Hmmm," Gaius replied, lost in thought. "I think I know of an exercise that you can do that'll make that easier for you. I'll have to consult my books..." Gaius looked away lost in thought for a second before resting his eyes on the cat in the cage. "What are you going to name her anyway?"

"I'm not sure--" Merlin started to say when the cat's blue eyes met his. A sudden picture came into his head, stronger than the accidental telepathy that he had been experiencing all day. It was a single image, one of a ray of sunshine filtering through a set of clouds. " _Aithusa_ ,” Merlin said, eyes closed to hide the gold eyes of the telepathy. He would really have to learn how to control that. “Aithusa is her name. It means ‘light of the sun.’” As soon as Merlin said that, he felt some sort of force tying him and Aithusa together. If he was older, he would have perhaps labeled it as destiny of some sort. 

“That as a very pretty name, Merlin,” Gaius responded, oblivious to the events that were clicking into place around them. “Now, why don’t you grab Aithusa’s cage and we’ll go and find the rest of the stuff you need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, I am SO SO sorry that this story has taken so long to update. I could say that life got in the way, and that I have been extremely busy and unable to use my computer, but that really isn't an excuse for the almost year of hiatus that I've taken. On the bright side, now that I'm back, I hope to (somewhat) consistently update throughout the summer until I go back to school at least, so hopefully I'll be able to get through more of this story.
> 
> I hope that you enjoy this addition, and look for more chapters to come. As always, comments and kudos are always appreciated!


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